Pink Ellies Novelty Cakes: "Kuih Melayu Challenge"

I've always wanted to learn to make the traditional malay kuih or "kuih melayu". These kuih melayu are usually sweets and most suitable eaten for tea or breaking fast during Ramadhan. I have tried a few before but it has always been trial and error for me. Never quite had the chance to master these sweets like how I make my cakes. To me, making cakes are so much easier and I never face much difficulty when making English desserts such as pies, choux pastries, puddings, cakes and so on.

However, sad to say, with the traditional malay kuih, I have not been very successful. My usual problem is the texture of my malay kuih is always too soft. It is really unfortunate for me that I never got the chance to attend any classes to learn the correct way of making these tradisional kuih such as kuih kasui, kuih talam, kuih lapis, kuih koci and so on. But I do try and I won't give up until I'm satisfied with the results.

So, every year during Ramadhan, I try to challenge myself to this task. Today is day 13 of Ramadhan and I'm glad to say that I've succeeded a few but I have also failed a few!!! Hehehe...

Let me recap:

Failures

1) Kuih lompang or kasui - texture was too soft and also the gula melaka taste was too overwhelming!!

2) Kuih tepung talam - tasted good but texture was too soft and my top layer ratio to the bottom layer ratio was off

3) Kuih lapis - tasted good but again the kuih was too soft even though I followed the measurement as per the recipe

The first layer of the kuih lapis

Pouring the second layer... so far so good...


How unfortunate that it didn't turn out alright and texture was too soft

I was successful in a few first attempts! Maybe its beginner's luck but hey, I'm happy!!

Success

1) Kuih Apam - Yeay!! The apam came out beautiful and I'm happy to say I've made these kuih twice and both times were success

The apam batter must be rested for at least 3 hours

This is how the batter will look like after 3 hours

My kuih apam ready for "breaking fast"

Up close... Gorgeous aint it? Hehehe

2) Kuih Cara Berlauk - the batter turned out a very nice shade of yellow and the texture was just right. The topping of mince beef was a curry recipe I created to my taste. I only followed the batter recipe from Marina Mustapha's blog (thank you!).